F Age Friendly Ireland Weekly Newsletter 08 January 2021 National Updates Public Health Measures Ireland remains at Level 5 restrictions. You can see the measures in place here. COVID-19 Community Call Forum - Local Authority Helpline Numbers and Email Addresses In light of the significant increase in Covid-19 cases and the current public health advice for older people to once again remain at home we want to again promote the awareness and availability of the local authority based COVID-19 Community Call Forum Helplines, particularly for older people who need help with practical supports such as shopping, prescription collection and many others. The full list of numbers and email addresses are available here and at the bottom of this newsletter Keeping well this winter The Keeping Well this Winter campaign has some further interviews aimed particularly at older and vulnerable people. • You can watch Dr Vida Hamilton, HSE’s Clinical Advisor for Acute Hospitals chat to Daíthí and Sinéad on RTE’s Today show here. Vida has lots of advice on accessing routine and emergency healthcare services, the protective measures that staff have taken in healthcare settings along with what to do if you think you have COVID-19. • Anne Rizzo, Age Friendly Regional Programme Manager for the West and Age Friendly Programme Manager for Limerick City and County Council talks to journalist Eoghan Corry for a Senior Times podcast on the actions and initiatives of county council staff and volunteers around the country since the COVID-19 pandemic began. You can listen to Anne outline the councils’ Community Call initiatives here. • Prof Martin Cormican, HSE’s Clinical Lead on Infection Control, talks to journalist Charlie Bird for a Senior Times podcast on keeping well this winter. Martin gives very good advice on when you might need antibiotics and why taking them when you don’t need them may do you more harm than good. He also chats to Charlie about the forthcoming COVID-19 vaccines. Listen the interview here. New Bereavement Support line to assist staff and public during the COVID-19 pandemic A new national free phone bereavement support line has been launched by the Irish Hospice Foundation in conjunction with the HSE. The national free phone service, 1800 80 70 77 is available Monday to Friday from 10am to 1pm. The support line aims to provide a confidential space for people to speak about their experience or ask questions relating to bereavement. Callers will be listened to with compassion and be provided with emotional support and information on any practical issues that may be helpful. Read more about the new Bereavement Support line here. Public Health Information As always, for the most up to date information and advice on Coronavirus, please go to: https://www2.hse.ie/coronavirus/ and https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/. Please also check the Healthy Ireland site here with further resources and information on the Keep Well campaign. You can view the latest information on how Ireland is responding to cases of COVID-19 here. Ireland’s COVID-19 Data Hub is available here. Information on COVID-19 vaccine You can read Dr Ronan Glynn's op-ed on COVID-19 vaccines here and watch a short video of Dr Glynn explaining what vaccines are and how they work to protect us here, as well as a video of him explaining how the vaccine approval process works and what the European Medicines Agency will examine here. You can read a statement from the Health Products Regulatory Authority’s (HPRA) Dr Lorraine Nolan here. You can find more information about the COVID-19 vaccine here from the HSE. COVID-19 Vaccine Advocate Forum pre-recorded video session 16th December 2020 Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health, has convened the COVID-19 Vaccine Advocate Forum to offer information to organisations that have an integral role to play in this important part of our country’s response to COVID-19. This pre-recorded video session is now available on the Department of Health website: www.gov.ie/en/publication/c453f-covid-19-vaccine-advocate-forum/ The session includes an introduction by the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD and presentations by Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health; Dr Lorraine Nolan, Chief Executive, Health Products Regulatory Authority; Deirdre Watters, Head of Communications, Department of Health and Dr. Siobhán O’Sullivan, Chief Bioethics Officer, Department of Health. HSE Stress Control Programme The HSE Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme will be continuing the Stress Control programme this year, beginning on Monday the 11th of January. You can go to stresscontrol.ie for further information and resources including Booklets on each part of the programme and Relaxation Mindfulness Exercises. The Minding Your Wellbeing video series is also available here: Minding Your Wellbeing Videos which gives practical steps about how to promote mental health. You can also subscribe to the Health and Wellbeing YouTube channel to be updated on further videos related to their Health and Wellbeing work. Irish Hospice Foundation announces new grant scheme to support creativity in the community during COVID-19 Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) has announced its new IHF Seed Grant Scheme to inspire and support creative responses to the themes of dying, death and bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic. In partnership with the Creative Ireland programme, the aim of IHF Seed Grants is to support groups, organisations and individuals in exploring creative initiatives and approaches to reflect and remember. This may take the form of starting new local art projects, or to support existing projects gain momentum - this may involve artists, crafts people or coders or may be a group or individual who has a good idea. For more details and how to apply visit hospicefoundation.ie Links to information on wheelchair accessible taxis and Local Link services Here is a link to the wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAV) register on the TFI website: https://www.transportforireland.ie/getting-around/by- taxi/wheelchair-accessible-vehicle-wav-register/ It lists the wheelchair accessible vehicles in every county and the contact email/phone number. If anyone wants to complain about a taxi not turning up or for anything else there are 3 methods of making complaints. • http://transportforireland.ie/taxi/taxi-compliments-complaints/ • Email to [email protected] • Phone: 879 8300 Another form of rural transport is Local Link that has 15 Units around the country. 90% of all Rural Transport service trips for Local Link are defined as fully or partially wheelchair accessible and in 2020 it was conditioned that all new services tendered must be wheelchair accessible. They have scheduled routes, evening services, door-to-door routes, demand responsive routes. Their contact details and different timetables are linked below: • https://www.locallink.ie/en/contact-us/ • https://www.locallink.ie/en/timetables/ The Free Travel Scheme is administered by the Department of the Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) and all queries about the scheme should be directed to the Department by emailing [email protected] or calling 071 915 7100. More details on the Free Travel Scheme and a full list of all operators and routes where the Free Travel Pass is accepted can be found on their website CIF Design Challenge 2020 | A Home for Everyone The competition launched by the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) is aimed at senior cycle students and is a team-based project. Students are asked to work together to design a home that helps solve issues such as climate change and the housing crisis as well as inclusivity. The submitted designs will need to be eco-friendly, affordable and suitable for both older people and those with physical disabilities. The competition will run until 1 March with judging taking place until mid- March. The winning team will have their design rendered into a three- dimensional model, so they can ‘walk’ through the house in March 2021. Winners will have the option of taking a Construction Industry Federation scholarship or access to its apprenticeship programme. Age Friendly Ireland welcomes this competition for students to demonstrate innovative models for sustainable developments with universal design for life. More information available HERE GenerationTech - Free Tech Help for older people GenerationTech are a Tech Sector driven volunteer group that manage simple to complex tech issues for Ireland’s older people, via helplines and digital channels. They don’t have a maximum time per call, and they can call the person back if necessary. All calls (inbound and outbound) are recorded and they strictly adhere to GDPR, data protection and privacy regulations. You can find more details at https://www.generationtech.ie Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM Saturday and Sunday (leave message and they will get in touch with you within 24-48 hours) Contact Details below: • Northern Ireland, ring 02894 338 799 and one of their volunteers will answer your call. • Republic of Ireland, ring 01-9633288 and one of their volunteers will answer your call. • Direct Message (DM) on twitter @gentechirl • Message via Facebook page. • Email [email protected] • Contact via Contact Form. • You can send your feedback here. Irish Museum of Modern Art | Art and Ageing Spring programme This programme is continuing across two main strands of delivery. The first is supported